A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 792: Falling Cup as a Number
He dismounted and prepared to lead his troops into the temple.

Zhi Cao quickly pleaded, "The temple is a pure Buddhist place. Weapons are tainted with blood and evil spirits and are unclean. Please leave the troops at the temple gate for the time being. This humble monk will send someone to bring hot soup and porridge to entertain the soldiers."

Li Yi nodded.
He immediately selected nine people, including Li Cunyi, Liu Heizi, Xiao Shier, and Luo Dafu, to accompany him.
Among these nine generals, the one with the highest rank is Li Cunyi, the Left Guard General of the Imperial Guard and a founding earl; Xiao Shier and Liu Heizi are both fourth-rank cavalrymen and founding barons.

Although the other six did not hold noble titles, they were all at least fourth-rank generals of the cavalry.

Each of them had fought alongside Li Yi and made outstanding military achievements. Each of them had a medal of at least the ninth rank or higher, and each was at least a Grand General.

Nine generals, clad in armor and wielding spears, followed closely behind, their hands on their swords.

Li Cunyi and Liu Heizi exchanged glances and nodded imperceptibly as they escorted Li Yi into the temple.

Three hundred Imperial Guards

Three thousand soldiers.

They then camped outside the temple, surrounding Shaolin like an iron barrel.

Inside the temple,

The ancient cypress trees were already covered in a layer of white, exuding a somber and desolate atmosphere.

The monks along the way kept their heads down, and the occasional glances they gave Li Yi revealed a hint of hostility.

Upon arriving at the main hall, Zhicao bowed and said, "Please, Minister Situ."

Inside the hall,

The Buddha's golden body shone brightly, his eyes looking down with boundless compassion.

On a table,

The stove has already been set up.

Gather around the stove, cook snow, and brew tea.

Li Yi could tell that it was wax tea, a type of tea made with added spices.

Zhi Cao took the initiative to introduce, "I have heard that Situ loves tea and is a master of tea ceremony. Our temple happens to have a box of wax tea, which is a tribute tea bestowed by His Majesty."

This tea is also a steamed compressed tea cake, produced in the Jiangnan region. It is made from tender buds selected in early spring, which are finely ground and then mixed with spices such as borneol and musk, as well as medicinal oils, before being pressed into tea cakes with dragon patterns.
This tea is also called Longevity Dragon Bud. Look at the tea soup; it's milky white like molten wax, and the aroma is rich.

Li Yi sat down.
Looking at the tea, he shook his head.
"What a pity, this tea is quite good, but your method of brewing it is incorrect. This tea needs to be rinsed with warm water to remove the oil and impurities, and the broken tea leaves should be roasted, ground into powder, and then brewed."

If you just put it directly into the pot to boil, it's no different from the lowest grade of brick tea.

Of course, this wax tea has too many spices added to the tea leaves. Although this method uses expensive ingredients, it inevitably overshadows the main flavor. When drinking tea, one should enjoy the original flavor of the tea, not the flavor of various spices.

Just as a monk should focus solely on spiritual practice, rather than clinging to worldly desires and becoming entangled in worldly affairs.

Zhicao paused for a moment while holding the teapot.

"Upon hearing of the violation of the precepts by the monks Tanman and others at Baiguwu Manor, I was deeply shocked. Indeed, our temple has been negligent in its discipline."

This humble monk and Duweina Huiyang were also deceived.

Situ also knows that our temple was looted and burned down by Wang Shichong a few years ago. Later, we were fortunate enough to encounter the Prince of Qin and Situ leading troops to attack Zheng. We monks also bravely infiltrated Huanzhou city to capture Wang Renzhe and persuade Zhao Sima to surrender to Tang.

Later, the King of Qin rewarded him for his merits.

Our temple has been busy with reconstruction in recent years.

The Venerable Master Shanhu is advanced in years, and along with several other eminent monks in the temple, he continues to translate scriptures, preach, and propagate the Dharma in the translation institute.
These miscellaneous tasks related to the farmland outside the temple were temporarily neglected...

Li Yi took the tea, but did not drink it.

He disliked this kind of tea made with various spices, saying it was putting the cart before the horse and that it was better to add some scallions, orange peel, and milk when brewing tea.

The fragrant tea steamed gently.

The curtains on both sides of the hall hung low.

There was an eerie silence.

Li Yi held the teacup, but a hint of disdain was evident on his lips.

Zhicao picked up his teacup, "This humble monk uses this tea to apologize to Master Situ."

Li Yi sat there without moving.

Zhi Cao gave an awkward smile and lowered his voice, "Our temple is willing to offer ten thousand strings of cash to Minister Situ."

Li Yi chuckled. Zhi Cao immediately added, "It can be exchanged for silk, or for lighter goods such as gold and silver."

Ten thousand strings of cash, converted into gold, can now be exchanged for 1,250 taels of gold.

This money is very valuable and has strong purchasing power.

Even a luxury house in Chang'an, or one of the few noble neighborhoods in the east of the city, would only cost two or three thousand strings of cash.

Those in the south of the city only received two or three hundred strings of cash.

Currently, the land around Shaolin Temple costs only a few hundred coins per mu (unit of land area), and ten thousand guan (unit of currency) can buy twenty or thirty thousand mu of land.

"Your Shaolin Temple has only 17,000 mu of temple land in name, but in reality, it has more than 200,000 mu. Not only do you own most of the land around the temple, but you also own land in Hebei, Shannan and Huainan."

Not to mention you also have mills, oil mills, cart shops, inns, pharmacies, and pawnshops, with branches in many states.

Your pawnshop makes over 10,000 guan a year, while Xiangji Kitchen lends out even more money at high interest rates to gain even more.

Furthermore, you build martial arts schools and recruit students, collecting tuition fees while simultaneously sending them to work as bodyguards and protectors to earn money. Even the surrounding counties give you several hundred strings of cash annually for security assistance…

You earn a huge sum of money in a year.
Yet they still prey on the people, exploiting tenants, not only by charging exorbitant rents and usury, but also by abusing women, acting with utter impunity and lawlessness!

Shicao gritted his teeth.

“Our temple is willing to offer Situ 1,500 taels of gold.”

Li Yi looked at him with a cold smile.
“Ten percent of the net profit from our temple’s martial arts school and pharmacy business each year is given to Master Situ.”

"Our temple will also offer Situ forty more acres of land!"

Li Yi still shook his head.

"At this point, are you still so stubborn? It seems there's really no hope for you."

Zhi Cao's expression changed drastically. He gritted his teeth and pleaded, "Please, Situ, have mercy and let us go. As long as you help us, please feel free to make any request!"

"Situ, please have some tea."

Zhicao offered tea again.

Li Yi still didn't answer.

"Situ, can't you really be lenient?"

Li Yi chuckled.
"What, if I don't let you go, what do you want to do?"

Zhi Cao sighed.

"Although I am a monk, I manage this temple, which has over a thousand monks, as well as more than three thousand lay disciples from the martial arts academy who are affiliated with our temple. In addition, there are two to three thousand lay nuns in the temple."
There are still thousands upon thousands of workers and tenants in various shops and farms who rely on Shaolin Temple to make a living.

If Minister Situ refuses to show leniency, he is forcing over a thousand monks and thousands upon thousands of others to their doom.

then,

Wang Shichong sent his nephew Wang Renzhe to plunder our estates, seize our grain and money, and even destroy our Buddhist statues to mint coins.

"They'll tear down our temple halls to build their own city, Huanzhou."

"Situ, can't you really give us a chance?" Zhicao looked directly at Li Yi.

“A country has its laws, and a family has its rules. I’m here today to conduct business officially.” Li Yi shook his head.

The humility on Shisao's face vanished completely, replaced by a sinister look.

"Li Situ, you forced us to do this. You know what happened to Wang Renze when he forced us back then." He suddenly slammed the cup of tea that Li Yi had been refusing to accept onto the ground.

Tea splashed everywhere.

The teacup shattered with a crash.
A large group of warrior monks suddenly rushed out from behind the curtains on both sides.
The leader, a burly man with fierce eyes, was none other than Tanzong, the martial arts instructor who had been awarded the title of Nine-Rank Merit General by the imperial court.

"Li Yi, you have gone too far! How dare you destroy my estate, kill my monks, and dishonor my family!"

Today, this Shaolin Temple will be your final resting place!

Li Yi remained seated.

"Have you forgotten that there are more than three thousand imperial soldiers outside this temple?"

Tanzong charged forward, brandishing a bronze golden cudgel. "You think Shaolin is without men? I've already recalled over three thousand warrior monks to the temple. Today, I'll kill you first, then protect the mountain gate!"
Our Shaolin Temple has already sent people to Luoyang to petition the Emperor in person!

Li Yi shook his head and sighed.
I don’t understand what they were thinking at all. How could they dare to kill the prime minister so openly in the temple, thinking that the emperor would favor them?
(End of this chapter)